Time to Let it Go

The last couple of days I have been in a poetic mood, meaning that I have not been writing poetry but just seeing the poetic beauty around me. I get into these types of mood time to time, especially when I am making a transition in life.

I will not be going into the details of why the poetic mood has overtaken my mind, but I will mention a poem that I had not read for a while.

Mary Oliver's poem, "In Blackwater Woods," moved me when I first read it and it still continues to move me especially in the last part of the poem:

To live in this world

you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it

against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.      (In Blackwater Woods, by Mary Oliver)

 The last line is a lesson I have come to appreciate and one that I understand is difficult. Knowing the time to let something go is hard. It's as simple as that.

In my understanding of the world and of people, you either find it difficult to let things go or you are so consumed with the idea of not attaching to anything that there is no chance to even consider letting things go because you have not let anything in. The two scenarios both sound bleak, but I go with the first scenario any day, because it seem like you are living life if you do not allow anything to come in.

Letting things go is not just saying that you are over a situation, but more that you have done all you can do in this place and it is time to move on to the next point in your life.

I'm understanding that if you do not let go, you may not actually be able to reach what you are fully capable of doing.

It is a long hard process to understand this and I do not believe I am anywhere close to understanding this. What I can say though is that I am embracing this idea and it's making me a bit more courageous.

Business of Church: Finance

Two of the most dreaded words to put together for a congregation are Church Finance. No one wants to talk about it other than complaining that the Finance Committee isn't doing their job or if they aren't getting the right kind of funding for a project. I'm not saying this happens at every church, but from my personal experience and the experience of my friends as pastors, this is a common theme.

If you remember in the first week of the series I made a chart or relating business positions to the church. This graph depicts that the counterpart of a CFO in the church is a Finance Committee. So in basic terms to say, the entire Finance Department is supposed to come together and create a budget. The pastor of a church and a select others look for people to be on this committee who seem to fit the positions, whether they may actually have finance experience or not (if you are at a large enough church than you are more so likely to have professionals who work in finance in some capacity. If not, you just need to find capable volunteers.).

Even before getting into budgeting, the church encounters a potential issue of having people who may not have necessary experience. This may not be too bad if you have a smaller church that is not doing a wide assortment of ministries; it can be detrimental if you have a larger budget.

This leads to the actual budget. What exactly does a church need to budget for?
There is actually a lot!
For example (This list is subject to change for different churches. Size, denomination, area, etc determines whether a budget would include this, but overall these are items that would be considered during committee meetings):

1. Youth Ministry
1. Trips
2. Curriculum
3. Purchasing Bibles
4. Supplies (Markers, papers, pens, etc.)
5. Camp Scholarships
2. Children's Ministry
1. Trips
2. Curriculum
3. Vacation Bible School
4.  Supplies (Markers, papers, pens, etc.)
5. Camp Scholarships
3. Hospitality Ministry
1. Meals at church
1.  Food Supplies
2. Cleaning Supplies
4. Utilities
5. Salary of Staff
1.  Lead Pastor
2. Youth Pastor
3. Office Administrator/Secretary
4. Minister of Hospitality
5. Children's Coordinator
6. Music Minister
6.  Basic Up-Keep
7. Mission Activities 
1. Soup Kitchens
2. Missionaries
3. Mission Trips
4. Reach Out Centers
8. Music Ministry
9. Preschool
10. Denominational Dues
1. Paying some amount to the general denomination to sponsor larger denomination programs

This list is honestly the items that pop up at the top of my head of what I have seen on different churches financial statements. Like I said before, there are a lot of items that need to be budgeted for in churches. Now this list as I mentioned above is all relative, because there are a lot of factors that play into whether all of this is needed budgeted. BUT, a major player is if what you are budgeting for goes along with your mission and vision (it all fits together or at least is should fit together).

I understand that this all seems basic and easy to understand. Where the real difficulty comes in is the clear fact that a churches main moneymaker is donation based. If your congregation goes down, your donations go down, but that doesn't mean that your budget does down. And if the pastor or the finance committee tries to cut some ministries of budgets of ministries, people start complaining since the congregation has a voice.

So the major two difficulties is church finance are that you may not have an experienced committee and that donations are all determined on what people show up and how many show up. These aren't the only two issues, because you could include that people may be selfish and seeking too much money or everything starts focusing on money and not the true purpose of the church, but those are not necessarily connected with the finance committee and has to do with the image of the church.


Church finance as a whole is vital and the area that can most relate to a for-profit business. The difference is the donation-based income and also the fact that the finance committee is a volunteer based committee. But if these volunteers do not understand the complexities of what makes up a church, then this can lead to larger problems just like it would in business.

What to Expect:

    Week 4: Church Marketing

    Week 5: Church Strategic Planning

    Week 6: Church Force- Volunteers

    Week 7: Personal Experience/ Wrap Up

It’s Not Salad, but Sweet Like Chocolate

“I always thought the Bible was more of a salad thing, you know, but it isn't. It's a chocolate thing.”

― Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality

So for 7 months I was a Minister of Youth, fancy title for Youth Pastor but whatever. I worked with two other guys and it was a good time. I learned a lot both on a personal level with my own faith, but also with teaching youth. It was a great experience and I am so happy I had the opportunity to work with these kids and experience the hardship, because there were many times when I just wanted to give up.

But as I am now done with the actual position and helping with the transition period happening it got me thinking about the last couple of months on our lessons about the Gospel and why reading scripture is important. With this reflection, it caused me to remember a quote from one of my favorite books.

“I always thought the Bible was more of a salad thing, you know, but it isn't. It's a chocolate thing.”

― Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality

Before I go too deep into this post I guess it would be useful to describe the quote. How it is used in the book is describing one of Don’s friends who gave her life to Christ who thought salad was more of something that you should eat, but didn't necessarily enjoy eating it. Now that is out of the way, let’s get into the nitty-gritty.

So often we made out scripture as something that is boring, bland and tasteless. People, and I’m including people in the church, make it this way and take out any flavoring in it. BUT that’s not the case at all!

There is so much flavoring in scripture that you sometimes have to put it down because it is so overpowering. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just read Song of Songs…ummm there is a lot of passion in that book. I can’t help but get emotional when I read Hosea or feel like I am punched in the face when I read James. There are so many flavors in the Bible and we just over look it. We just like to make it palatable and don’t want to embrace the many tastes that it presents.

So the Bible to me is more of a chocolate thing. It’s sweet and gives me so much warmth and hope. It’s something delectable that causes me to savor each bite I take from it. It fills me up in a way that I cannot necessarily put into words, but I do know it is sweet. Each taste I take makes me want to share the taste to other people by offering them a piece of it.

But that’s just me.

For the love of Books

A book is a very treasured thing.

A book is a thing that you can fall in love with.

A book is freedom.

As a child I always remember having an active imagination. I always remember the day of school we went to the library, but it wasn't quite a love yet. It was when I was in either the third or fourth grade when I picked up a book that taught me how to love books. This book was called "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."

Since then I have fallen head over heals in love with books. Like so many, I find so much joy reading. I love the fact that I am transported to different worlds, or into battle or take great adventures. Some of the best connections I have ever made with people have been made over books.

I swear, books can unite anyone, especially when you are reading books at the same time. For example, I have never been a part of a book club, but I started reading two books at the same time as my boss and whenever we see each other we wanted to know what the other was thinking about the book. Books create conversations and can widen your range of thoughts. I guess that's why so many people decide to join book clubs because of that.

Books inspire so much more, which is why people who love power fear books. Books challenge authority with what they are about, with encouraging thinking for yourself, and with creating your own ideas.

Personally, I just love books and love the power that comes with them.

Books open the mind for a world of opportunities if you will let them.

The Business of Church: Mission and Vision

When you have a business, it is key to have a mission and vision statement. These statements are the basis of how you make your decisions and where you are planning to be heading in the years to come.  To give a better example and the difference between these two statements, the American Marketing Association has two definitions that make these concepts understandable.

Mission Statement: It is used to guide the company’s decision-making and strategic planning.

Vision or Vision Statement: A guiding theme that articulates the nature of the business and its intention for the future.

The fact that the mission and vision statement are important is not a difficult fact to grasp. In fact, the concept is exceedingly basic and seems like it would be a no-brainer for a company to create one.

Now, I’m not going to be explaining the definition of these two or why they are important. Those are easy to grasp. What I will be discussing is why it is so vital to have them in the church.

Most churches or their general denominations have mission/vision statements. That is not really surprising. The fact that I find exceedingly interesting is that local churches may have different mission/vision statements that are different from the greater denomination that they are a part of. To me this is intriguing because aren’t these statements supposed to guiding a company (or church) into the future?

Like most companies, the church creates a team that helps develop the mission and vision statements, but there are some differences. In a company, the people on the team are selected and only a few people have input to what the final results will be. At the church though, you can create a team but many can throw input and make noise loud enough to stop progress. There is a fine line of being on a committee and effecting a committee decision, which can be good and can be bad.

It is good that churches can receive input from people outside the committee, but these people may have not been asked to voice their opinions for a reason. Think about it in business terms. If you know that someone is wanting to stay the same, believe that the old ways are the best and does not want to adapt to changing times, do you want them to effect your strategy for the future? Of course not and in business you can find a way to move them out of the way, sometimes providing a golden parachute or buying them out of the company or something along those lines.  You can’t do that in the church, because it is all volunteers.

Having a volunteer committee is honestly a double-edged sword, especially when it comes to strategic planning with a mission and vision statements. A pastor can plan a meeting, but the committee members don’t necessarily have to show up since it is not technically their job. If they are able to come and attend then that is good, but if they are not able to come then there is no consequences. There is not necessarily a solid base, which in turn makes it difficult to make strategic decisions when you are not having the same committee meet each week, because of absences.

 Another item to consider with this is something that I brought up a couple paragraphs ago: different mission/vision statements. There are many churches that belong to denominations that are very well organized. These denominations create mission and vision statements for what they want to achieve. To make sense of it in business terms: imagine a corporate retail stores headquarters as the church denomination and the stores as the local churches. Now imagine the headquarters having a different mission and vision statement than the local stores. It doesn’t make any logical sense.

Now having said this example, not every church differs from their denominations mission and vision. For example, the church I attend has a different mission statement from the denomination (having the idea of being much more specific with the ministries they want to achieve) and have the same vision statement (because they belong to the denomination and want to ultimately follow them in that direction). I agree with this stance, because the mission should be tailored to the specific area in which you are located.

Having written all this, it is easy to say that the Church and business world are not so different when it comes to the importance of the mission and vision statements. It is in the development stage that they differ to the fact that the Church relies more so on a volunteer committee verses ones that are getting paid to create these strategies. This does have an effect on how successful these statements are, because how invested people are. A business must follow their mission/vision to survive and so does the church. For some odd reason people do not put the connect together that for anything to survive it must have a purpose and thus having a mission and vision for the reason of its survival. 

What to Expect:

    Week 3: Church Finance

    Week 4: Church Marketing

    Week 5: Church Strategic Planning

    Week 6: Church Force- Volunteers

    Week 7: Personal Experience/ Wrap Up

The Dream

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

Today is the day we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. and all that he did for this country. MLK Jr. was always one of my favorite people to talk about in school, because he made a difference and impacted the world.

His entire “I Have A Dream” speech is inspiring and gives me chills every time I listen to it. Most of the times I have to hold back tears, because it just hits me in ways I can’t explain. It’s always been that way for me, even when I was in elementary school and they explained the importance of this speech. I always found it as something to always keep in mind.

When I was little, I had this glorified image of protesting and when I mean little, I mean at the age of 4 (one of my brothers’ did something that I didn’t like and I protested at home. I literally made a sign and walked around the house protesting about my brother. I was FOUR!!!). I viewed people who protested, my influence was the Freedom Marches that King and others led, in a super positive light because they wanted to lead for change. As I have gotten older, I don’t agree with every protest I see, some I totally disagree with, but people are standing for what they believe.

King’s speech is still as powerful as it was when he first delivered it, but are we still fighting for that dream?

Let’s think about it, there are still injustice in the world; there are still people being looked down on whether it is race or gender or who you are attracted to; there are still people who do not have a voice. Just because it is 2014 does not mean that we have already achieved this dream, in fact, we still need to be fighting for it.

Has it gotten better? Of course it has! Is there room to improve? Of course there is! If we ever believe we have reached the perfect point, then I am very sorry to inform you that is a fallacy. There is always room for more understanding, acceptance and listening!

I’m not saying here that we must all believe in the same things or all is the same. All I am saying that we need to be accepting of people and be willing to listen to the other side.

We are all created equal! We can do this if we lend our hands out to our brothers and sisters and rise up together. It does not matter if we agree or disagree politically, spiritually or anything like that, we must be willing to be a source of peace. Peace, not being a doormat and not having an opinion, but willing to listen to the other side.

I believe we can continue to move toward the direction of being equal, but it won’t ever be perfect. Just because it won’t ever be perfect does not mean we can’t strive for equality for all!

I would Prefer Not...

So I think I have given myself way too much freedom with my Friday post, because I am always at a loss for what to write. Like I will literally say, “Oh that would be an awesome post! I will totally write about [insert whatever I am thinking at a random time]!”

And what comes of it…me being stuck with what to write about, which funny enough makes me remember a time during my freshman year of college.

I attended Otterbein College for a year and it was so much fun and I learned a lot about myself and also in the way of education. But I had that was called Intro to Literary Imagination or aka Intro class to the English Major where we read a lot of books in 10 weeks and had a number of papers and a project. I appreciated the class, not as much as I appreciate the lessons I learned from reflecting on it, but it was interesting.

The very first piece of literature we read that quarter was a novella by Herman Melville, so I initially dreaded reading it.  My last experience with Melville was horrible. I had to read Moby Dick for honors English my junior year of high school and hated Melville’s writing style.

I get people love Melville’s Moby Dick but I am not one of them. I respect you if you love it, but you could not pay me enough to read that novel again.

So having this as my background I was not looking forward to Bartleby the Scrivener. During the actual time I took the class, I was very impartial to the book. I personally didn’t like Bartleby (he was lazy) nor did I like the narrator (he was a wimp). And Bartleby only said the same thing over and over again (“I would prefer not”.).

Now fast-forward 3 years:

I am in my senior year of college and in my last semester.  I am working really hard and trying to impress my professors and trying to find a career. I was putting all this pressure on myself to try to live up to the expectations of others or what I thought was the expectations of others. It was not a good thing. Seriously, just look at a post I did last year entitled “Total Panic.”

It was during this time that this simple and once annoying phrase came into my head. A professor and I were discussing a project and the thought that luckily did not come out of my mouth reached the top of my mind. I would prefer not.

Bartleby wasn’t lazy, he was just sick of it all! He was tired of these stupid standards that don’t actually make any sense or just how some people wield power over you. I had experienced too many people acting like I was just this little peon and I just preferred not to do what they said. I preferred not to live up to their standards and live up to my own.

Now fast-forward to now:

Living up to my expectations has been great and has pushed me to think in different ways.  I’m not saying that it has been easy, but it has been great to just have to appease myself and not others. I am not saying that I am thinking selfishly, but just not living up to other people’s expectations because if I am not happy with life, then I am doing something wrong.

So let just say it together: I would prefer not.

It’s not saying no, but it is stating that you would rather be doing something other than what they have for you to do. Maybe this phrase will work for you as it did for me and give me the understanding to strive for my own goals and not being programmed to not be able to think for myself.

The Business of Church

I have been debating in which direction to take this series. For a while I was going to broadly discuss non-profits, but my mind kept turning to specifically the church. Maybe it is because I worked in a church for 7 months, my dad and brother are pastors and I am very familiar with this field that it just makes sense to write about it.

Now laying that out, I am NOT going to talk about theology, spirituality or anything like that specifically.  It may come up, but that is only because of the importance it has in specific areas. I will be writing from the perspective of the United Methodist Church, but I have attended a Nondenominational church and have experience with the Christian Missionary Alliance church (worked at a camp and attend a Bible Study).

But before I go too deep into any of this I think it may be wise to find the link between the church and business. I could write many paragraphs on this, but instead I’m just going to show it in graph form.

Side Note: This is excluding Mega churches. Many of these run in a different way and are not like the typical church that is out there. In all sense, Mega Churches can be considered Outliers.

A larger church in attendance (At least 200 and above)

Business	Church
CEO	Senior Pastor
CFO	Finance Committee
CMO	*
Board Members	Administrative Council
Human Resource	Staff Perish Relations
Office Administrator	Office Administrator
IT	Volunteers

* Has Facebook page, website, maybe a Twitter, but may not be used correctly or have correct information. Run by volunteer base

A smaller church in attendance (At least 150 and under)

Business	Church
CEO	Senior Pastor
CFO	Finance Committee
CMO	#
Board Members	Administrative Council
Human Resource	Staff Perish Relations
Office Administrator	Part-Time Secretary
IT	None

# Only market when it is convenient

If it is not as apparent, there are a lot of volunteers and a lot of committees for any Chief Officer. I’m not saying this is a bad thing nor am I saying this is good; it’s more so just facts. There are heads of each committee, but are more organizers and facilitators then Chief Officers.

Now there are other positions that a church has that do not have a direct correlation with business like a Worship Leader, Minister of Children, Minister of Youth, Small Group Coordinator and others. All of these types of positions are relevant to recognize, because they all impact the church.

Now knowing the different parts of the church and some of the positions and different committees or personnel, I am going to give an outline of what the next number of weeks will be like.  I understand that there is a lot that I will be writing about that seem basic in the business sense, but can take on a whole new meaning when it is comes into the realm of the church.

Like I have mentioned before, many areas that seem basic in the business sense are still basic when it comes to the church, but need to be addressed in different ways. Listed below are the topics on which I will be covering for the next number of weeks.

What to Expect:

Week 2: Vision and Mission Statement

Week 3: Church Finance

Week 4: Church Marketing

Week 5: Church Strategic Planning

Week 6: Church Force- Volunteers

Week 7: Personal Experience/ Wrap Up

If you have any questions about any of these topics or want more background information on the church, please don’t hesitate to comment and I will do my best to answer any question you may have.

Just Let Me Sing

A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer,

it sings because it has a song.

~ Maya Angelou

Side Note: I want to first state that Maya Angelou is one of my favorite poets of all time and I constantly pick up the book I have of her collected poetry and read it often.

I love this quote. It’s been in my notes on my phone for the past six months and I always turn to it, because it speaks to me. It wasn’t until recently that I finally understood why it spoke to me in the way it did.

It seems so simple, but sometimes I like to over complicate things so I don’t always catch the simple. The second part of the quote just hit me the other day, because it doesn’t answer but has a song to sing; it has something to say; it doesn’t have to stay quiet and only give answers.

How often do we not sing because we have a song? Or in other words, how often do we not speak when we have something to say? Do we just stay silent?

I have nothing against silence, because sometimes silence is the best answer, but we are not giving an answer now, are we? We are saying something. We are not just staying silent anymore.

If you haven’t gathered by now, I can be a blunt person. With being a blunt person comes with the fault of crossing the line of being arrogant. I will admit that I, being a young person, am learning how not to be arrogant and when to stay quiet. It’s a hard lesson, but I don’t want to be someone unteachable or just a pain to be around. At the same time though, I don’t want to be a doormat and not have any opinions.

The reason this quote is reaching me now is because I wasn’t ready to learn this lesson six months ago. It was just a quote that justified my reason of being blunt because I wasn’t ready to admit that I was just trying to answer questions and not forming a well thought out thought. I now understand that I should speak when I having something to say, but it should be within reason. I can be blunt, but not at the expense of trying to prove a point instead to use it as a tool to help.

Sometimes time helps with understanding a quote at a much deeper level. A short simple quote may at first seem simple, but it is always much deeper than what it is shows. Doesn’t mean it is complex, just deeper. And sometimes you aren’t ready for the true meaning when you first come across it and need a new surrounding to better understand it.

Simple Wise Words

I would have never expected Random Friday to be such a difficult post to write or maybe it is just this Friday. This post has been on my mind all day and I have had little to no inspiration, but from the advice that I have learned from: if you want to be a writer, you must force yourself to write even when you don't feel like it.

As I have been trying to figure it out while watching TV, one of my favorite shows from my childhood came on and it brought me to find this clip:

For those of you who do not recognize this clip, this is from "Boy Meets World." This clip shows the last lessons the main characters learned from their beloved teacher, Mr. Feeny. He states:

Believe in yourself. Dream. Try. Do good.

As I have gotten older and rewatched the show, I was young when this show was on, I've been able to find the true lessons that this show has. It really warms my heart to watch this show in syndication, because this show wasn't just about growing up and getting into trouble, but taught life lessons.

The vast majority of the people I know love this show because of Mr. Feeny. Don't get me wrong, you love all the other characters, but Feeny was more than a character to viewers. Feeny gave us lessons on hope, how to never give up on yourself, to value education and to not let anyone look down on you because you are young.

Going back to the quote, that was the last bit of the show. Those were the parting words of Mr. Feeny and the last advice he gave his long time students.

His words, simple and few, are exceedingly powerful. But sometimes the simple and shortest explanation is what we need and is the most difficult to grasp.

This last episode aired when I was in the 3rd grade. I remember listening to Feeny's last word, knowing that they were important to listen to but not fully understanding them. As graduate from college trying to figure out what I am to do with myself in the world, his words speak volumes in my life.

So, what I leave you with on this Random Friday post is simple:

Believe in yourself. Dream. Try. Do good.

Never Scoff at the Basics: SWOT

Anyone else remember when you were in class and one of the basic lessons you learned in your introduction class came up? Do you remember the reaction? It was typically a groan or tons of eyes rolling or some snide comment. It felt annoying that professors were wasting your time with material we had already covered in previous courses.

Now it has been about nine months since I have been in a lecture where I'm graded and have reflected much on my educational experience and I can honestly say I now understand why they do this.

1.       Repetition is always key to remembering

2.       To try to knock this concept into our thick skulls

3.       Because it is IMPORTANT

I always remembered getting really annoyed when having to discuss the SWOT analysis concept because it is so basic! It is not complicated at all, but it is vital to understand.

Now I'm not a person to claim that I have years of experience, because I don't. What I can say is from the little experience I have and from observations of people who have vastly greater experience than I have. One of the things that have witnessed from both my experience and observation is that people don't like that whole self-evaluation process and refuse to critically do this.

My main experience with marketing has been in the nonprofit sector and can't accurately speak for the for profit sector, but neither sector really enjoys this process from what I can tell. My experience with nonprofits is they really take it hard when you point out that they need to change and update. They are refusing to do the basics and it can substantially hurt any business if this evaluation process is not done.  

I'm assuming that everyone understands what SWOT analysis is, but for those that don't it means:

•   Internal Analysis

•   Strength

•   Weakness

•   External Analysis

•   Opportunity

•   Threat

I believe it is always easier to admit your companies strengths, opportunities and even some of their threats. What I have found to be difficult is when you are new to a company and you are the one making the evaluations and you bring up weaknesses. Some companies believe they are doing it all right and have it all together. If that is what you are thinking, then I have already found 1 of your weaknesses.

If you are unable to critically evaluate your weaknesses then I can almost guarantee that your competitors are evaluating them as some of their opportunities to exploit your weaknesses and gain that competitive advantage.

The basics in class seem so monotonous, but it is so vital for survival that you glean something new if you critically view it in a different way. I know that there were times I scoffed at hearing this lecture over again and it took me nine months to understand how important it is.  

Success Through Failure

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Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.

~Winston Churchill

We praise the winners and if you lose, you look at what you can do to be like the winner. There is always this constant view that people need to be the victor and if you fail at all, then you are not as valuable. This is exceedingly messed up.

Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.

~Winston Churchill

What does success actually mean?

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, success means:

: The fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame

: The correct or desired result of an attempt

: Someone or something that is successful: a person or thing that succeeds

Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.

~Winston Churchill

Maybe it’s just me, but does anyone else find disconnect between Churchill’s quote and the exact definition in the dictionary? Typically I find that a quote and the definition of the main word compliment each other, but this one seems to be viewing things in a different way.

In my opinion, I don’t necessarily like the definition of success, because I don’t think it encompasses the true meaning of what the word means. I do though completely agree with Churchill’s quote. I believe it better defines what success means.

For example, is it a complete failure if you take that leap and move to a different city and don’t have a job, but are getting training for a specific program? Some would say yes because one does not have a job, but another would say yes, because you are not being complacent in life, that you are actually taking a challenge and planning on taking complete control of life.

I have had many failures in 2013, like a lot of failures. In 2013 I did graduate college, but what other big success did I have that the world would consider successful? I do not have a career yet, which is what you are supposed to do after graduation. Yet, if I don’t agree with the definition of success and agree with Churchill, then I have had much success.

I may not have a career yet, but from this failure and frustration I have taken initiative of learning about my field of choice. It has also forced me to look ahead and decide that grad school is in my future and that I may need to try to do unique ways to fit into the changing times.

So overall, I may look like a failure to some, but I have not let my enthusiasm dim in anyway. In fact my enthusiasm has grown because the ever-changing environment in business and marketing just causes me to yearn to learn more and more. So call it failure, but my failure has given me focus and drive that I would have never had if I had gotten a career in the first place.

So:

Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.

~Winston Churchill

Are you walking from failure to failure and staying positive or are you just giving up? I hope you are not just viewing success as wealth or fame or anything like that, because then you may have to ask yourself how happy you actually are. I’ve failed and my failure is frustrating, but has made me happy because I know what I want in life.